There are few things I love more than discovering a new composer or score. When both come in the same package, boy is it Christmas! It shouldn’t be hard, then, to imagine my delight when I first heard snippets of the score for David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, the tale of a Texas outlaw who escapes prison to reunite with his beloved wife and the daughter he has never met. Dripping with moody, sepia-toned and decidedly Mallick-like cinematography by Bradford Young, the film features Rooney Mara and the criminally underrated trio of Casey Affleck, Ben Forster, and Keith Carradine. Daniel Hart, a classically trained violinist of Dallas, Texas and current member of the band Dark Rooms, provides the score that will hopefully assist in bringing him some much deserved recognition, for his Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is an inventive, moody, and poetic exercise in Americana.

            The best comparison I can think of for Hart’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is to the works of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. For the past decade or so, ever since they together scored John Hillcoat’s unflinching Aussie-western The Proposition, these two names have largely molded what I have come to think of as the sound of the modern western. Their The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford continued and even bettered this sound, producing one of the best and most underrated scores of 2007 in the process, and I would even argue that The Road sustained this tradition, as did Lawless after that. Daniel Hart’s score, as ponderous and grassroots as the film it accompanies, exists somewhere in the realm of this modern, western sound that Cave and Ellis have established. Comparisons, however, are never entirely fair. Not for a second should it be questioned that what Hart has accomplished here is an ode to this film, rather than to the works of these two composers.

            As befitting the story’s Texas setting and the sense of pastoral simplicity that the characters are imbued with, Hart’s score is folksy and organic, with an unmistakable heart that beats for the duo and yearns for their reuniting. "Atbs Theme" introduces the kind of instrumentation you’ll hear throughout the score. Shimmery strings, plucking guitar, and mournful solo violin combine to form a unique piece consisting of vague, drifting chord progressions. It’s earthy and beautiful in a simple, unconventional way. "Ruth and Sylvie", one of the highlights of the score, is similarly textural. With the inspired addition of knee slapping and hand clapping to produce the cue’s rhythm, "Ruth and Sylvie" is undeniably heartfelt yet continues to maintain an ever so slight mournful tinge. "Bob Escapes" reprises this material with slightly less concrete direction.

            Another highlight track and a representation of what may be the score’s most accessible theme is "Fixer Upper". A bit more traditionally folksy than some of the other material on the album, it’s a twangy, warmly optimistic piece that also incorporates the rhythmic knee slapping and hand clapping of "Ruth and Sylvie", which from here on becomes a staple part of the score’s fabric. One of the more atmospheric tracks, "Ruth Tries to Write", is chillingly beautiful with delicate, trembling strings conveying a palpable sense of angst, amplified by the later addition of a ponderous horn that often appears in the score’s weightier moments (as in "Freddy’s Dead/Sylvie’s Born"). Also angst-ridden is the track "Sweet Talk", the underlying rhythm of which seems to suggest time inescapably ticking away. The anxious "Skerritt Reads the Letter", and the beautifully nostalgic "Do You Remember That Day" employ higher, hoarser strings to great effect while "The Last Shootout" employs outlandish percussion to make it the score’s most challenging, hostile piece. Closing off Hart’s original score material is "Inside the Farmhouse", an entirely string-based track that suggests a bittersweet end.  

            The album also includes eight non-score tracks, mostly residing under the distinction of "melancholic folk/country". Actor Keith Carradine provides the vocals for "The Light" and Curtis Heath of The Theater Fire crops up a few times as well (on banjo, singing vocals, or in conjunction with John Graney). Greg Schroeder and Bosque Brown’s Mara Lee Miller collaborate on the folk-lament "Here We Are" while Annell Brodeur offers the back-and-forth "He Never Told Me" and Andrew Tinker the soulful "Ain’t Long Enough". Closing the album is Aaron Kyle’s moody "Siren Call".  

            Daniel Hart’s brilliant, inventive little score is perfectly in tune with the pulse of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. Its earthy and folksy textures transport listeners to dusky, Texan vistas while its mournful melodies voice a tale of simple lives woefully undone and yearning for righting. Hart’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is an impressive and largely unique early work that shouldn’t be passed by. 

               In 2010, Matthew Vaughn shocked and delighted audiences with his irreverent, witty and extremely entertaining romp Kick-Ass, a tale of ordinary citizens turned vigilante superheroes. Since the film performed modestly and garnered a devoted cult following, a sequel was a pretty safe bet. Come summer 2013 we got it, this time from director Jeff Wadlow. With a new director also came a bit of shaking up of the sequel’s music production. The first film’s score was the product of an immense collaboration (Henry Jackman, Ilan Eshkeri, Marius Vries, John Murphy, and even Danny Elfman contributed to the score). Kick-Ass 2 sees the return of only Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson, who jumped on board at the end of the first film’s production to assist in constructing the finale cue. While Jackman’s involvement is certainly evident, Margeson pulls his weight here and contributes to an overall enjoyable sequel score that largely abandons Kick-Ass’s sandbox of ideas in favor of a more cohesive  experience.

               Returning from the first film is Henry Jackman’s slight but surprisingly memorable identity for the series, an optimistic bit of brassy heroism that really adds to the film’s youthful, energetic vibe. From a horn solo that seamlessly morphs into retro videogame-like electronics in "Main Titles" to its stirringly noble presence in "First Mission" and "Shark Bait/Rooftop" to its spirited full treatment in "Hit-Girl’s Farewell", the identity litters the score. It even appears in a mournful rendition in "Remembering Colonel Stars and Stripes" and in a beautifully muted variation in "Fatherly Sacrifice". While these slower cues betray the underlying chord progressions’ similarity to something that Brian Tyler might have concocted for the concept (see Eagle Eye’s "Loss of a Twin" or Bubba Ho-Tep’s "All Is Well"), they do signify the adaptability of the theme. Undeniably the most satisfying rendition of the Kick-Ass theme is the aforementioned treatment in "Hit-Girl’s Farewell", the film’s answer to Marius Vrie’s outstanding and exhilarating "Flying Home" from the first Kick-Ass film. Aside from a heavier emphasis on electric guitar and a lighter emphasis on the string motif at 1:42, "Hit-Girl’s Farewell" is pretty similar to "Flying Home" (albeit shorter) so it should please fans of the original.

               While Jackman’s theme returns like a familiar face, the sequel’s wealth of new characters also call for their own identities and ensure that Kick-Ass 2 never feels like a retread. Colonel Stars and Stripes’ group of vigilante do-gooders, Justice Forever, receives treatment in "Justice Forever", a suitably rousing cue featuring some of the heavier rock elements of the score. The fast-paced, higher-pitched ostinatos that Jackman’s so fond of drive the cue, making it seem like something that would be right at home in X-Men: First Class. The electric guitar also has a constant presence at the suggestion of Matthew Margeson (something true for the score as a whole), adding to the modern rock vibe and culminating in the cue’s highlight at 1:05.

             Another new addition is an infectious, almost nostalgic rock/synth theme heard in "Senior Year". It basically covers the same ground that The Prodigy’s cue "Stand Up" did in the first film, serving as the score’s buoyant and hip identity for high school, but you’ll also catch a snippet of Hit-Girl’s new theme at 0:39. Also featured in "Mindy’s First Date" and "Mindy & Dave", the identity is very loosely based on Big Daddy’s theme heard in "Honor to Serve Him" (featuring the first two notes re-harmonized). It really is a misnomer, though, to call this "Hit-Girl’s theme": the light piano motif is more heavily attributed to Mindy’s character, its relationship to Big-Daddy’s theme showing that she is still in her young age an extension of her father. Only a few times in the score is the theme applied to her superhero alias Hit-Girl, as in at the close of "Dave’s Field Test" and in "To Be a Real Superhero". More often, she shares Kick-Ass’s theme when… well, kicking ass.

            The last notable addition to Kick-Ass 2’s repertoire of new themes is a rather big one and its entirely Margeson’s creation. Clothed in some bizarre S&M gear, Chris D’Amico attempts to publicize his transformation into criminal mastermind The Motherf*cker by shooting up a convenience store. Fortunately for all those involved, he’s hardly a mastermind and the plan goes afoul in comical fashion. He’s geeky and quite pathetic but D’Amico thinks that he can play ball up there alongside The Joker and Darth Vader. His theme, an overblown, ballsy bit of hard rock over chugging strings, sufficiently portrays how D’Amico thinks of himself. It receives fullest attention in "Convenience Store", but it crops up wherever The Motherf*cker exacts his burning revenge, thus dominating the villainous material on album. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do enough to make "Toxic Mega-C*nts", the material for D’Amico’s antithesis to the do-gooder group Justice Forever, that interesting. The lack of as solid an identity for the Toxic Mega-C*nts as that of Justice Forever is the score’s real weak link, but their material inhabits the same hard rock sonic realm as the Motherf*cker’s and his theme dominates their scenes enough so that you won’t really notice the omission until you peruse the album release.

              In addition to these themes, the score features an action finale cue in "Warehouse Showdown" that can best be described as "in-your-face". There’s plenty of high chopping strings and repeating notes slamming away at you, but it’s pretty well structured and mostly revolves around a few satisfying interactions between The Motherf*cker and Kick-Ass’s themes. Fitting for their finale duel to the death.

            Overall, Kick-Ass 2 represents a more focused, compact, and cohesive extension of the ideas heard in the first film’s score. This distinctive identity is most clearly attributable to the reduction in composers from the original Kick-Ass score, but that reduction also means that Kick-Ass 2 doesn’t get the chance to benefit from the individual strengths that Vries, Eshkeri, Murphy, Elfman, etc. all brought to the table. In essence it ditches the prior score's multiple personalities for a solid whole and, though it may not produce quite as many highlights as the first film’s score, I’d say Kick-Ass 2 is mostly on par with it.

                While most of the past decade has seen him hiding behind "additional music" credits on Hans Zimmer’s projects, British composer Henry Jackman burst into the mainstream with his score for X-Men: First Class and, in doing so, managed to perk more than a few ears. Lending a remarkable energy and an impressive, classical sensibility to his projects, Jackman has since then had great success in winning scoring duties for a number of big-budget action efforts, like the upcoming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but it is his work on animated films that seems to consistently bring out the best of his compositional abilities. Monsters vs. Aliens, Winnie the Pooh, Puss in Boots, and Wreck-It Ralph all boasted solid to superb scores from Jackman and his latest work on DreamWorks’ Turbo continues that streak of successes.

            Though it didn’t win any races against Monsters University and Despicable Me 2, most critics agreed that Turbo was a likable enough match for its target demographic of undemanding youngsters (see guest reviewer Kyle Brassil’s review for elaboration). Following the story of an ordinary garden snail whose dream to become the fastest snail in the world miraculously comes true, Turbo also proved to be a fine match for Jackman’s scoring sensibilities, as he has managed to craft a fun and fitting work that competently blends traditional, orchestral elements with modern, electronic beats.

            Jackman employs two main identities for Theo aka Turbo, the film’s titular snail. The first, a charming and versatile theme heard in "Another Day at the Plant" is immediately likeable on piano, warm strings, and strumming guitar. When handled with brass and full orchestra it becomes sweeping and inspiring, as in the fantastic cue "Arrival at Indianapolis", "Tuck and Roll",  and "And It Looks Like the Winner Is...". While much of Jackman’s work on action films makes for great listening, it takes a cue like "Arrival at Indianapolis" to showcase just how much of an immense talent he really is.

The other identity for the heroic snail is more contemporary, denoted most commonly by bursts of rapidly repeating strings to the tempo of X-Men: First Class. The first heavily electronic rendition of the theme appears in "Indy 500", sporting a techno edge that works surprisingly well with some impressive brass work, a feature that I've come to expect from Jackman’s scores since First Class. "Supersnail" even has the theme interacting with dubstep elements, no doubt inspired by the composer’s collaboration with Skrillex on Wreck-It Ralph. It also appears briefly in "Snail vs. Mower" and "Mollusk Upgrade" but look to "Turbo" for the fullest rendition of the theme, with those repeating strings starting up at 1:12. Bold and fast-paced, it’s exactly what I’d expect Jackman to bring to the table for this concept.

            Another great theme, this one for the Starlight Plaza Snail crew, is introduced midway through "Meet the Competition". Cool and catchy, it becomes an interesting hybrid between funk and Morricone western for the gang’s introduction in "Those Guys Are Awesome". Strong electric bass, electric guitar, and the ever-soulful Hammond Organ provide the funk elements (with some occasional DJ scratches, for good measure), while electric guitar, brass, and even Morricone-esque whistling provide the Western flare when the tempo is upped. The theme informs the tender "Daydreaming" for Tito’s character and recurs briefly in "Snail Up" come race time and more prominently in "Tuck and Roll" for the big finish.

            The rest of the score is highlighted by the playful menace of "Crow Attack", the spirited exuberance of "And It Looks Like the Winner Is...", and a brief crescendo of orchestral and choral beauty at the end of "Daydreaming" that calls to mind, surprisingly, John Williams’ work on E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

            While it has Mark Mancina’s Planes to compete against, Henry Jackman’s Turbo still proves itself admirably as one of the best animated film scores of the year. It’s effortlessly charming and, though it on rare occasions meanders into a generic, comedic tone (like that which Jackman applies to Turbo’s brother, Chet), Turbo is enjoyable from start to finish, boasting no less than three solid main themes. The album situation, though, is another story. I've chosen to review the Turbo (Original Motion Picture Score) release, available in mp3 format via Amazon and iTunes, but apparently this release is sold only in the United States. The rest of the world is forced to settle with Turbo: Music From The Motion Picture, a disappointing release that fails to balance a mere 17 minutes of highlights from Jackman’s original material with new music from Snoop Dogg (Lion?... I don’t even know) and other passable, age-inappropriate hip-hop/dance efforts. Aside from the catchy novelty of “The Snail Is Fast” by V12 and Nomadik, there’s nothing here that you’ll be dying to explore, especially at the expense of Jackman’s quality score. A Deluxe edition version of the release rectifies this by adding ten tracks of Jackman’s material to the previously meager six, but if you want to explore the fullest representation of the score I’d accept no substitute to the Turbo (Original Motion Picture Score) release, which ditches the hip-hop songs and remixes in favor of Jackman’s original work. While it may lack the inventiveness of his score for Wreck-It Ralph, Henry Jackman’s Turbo is in all other respects an entertaining listen with more intelligence than the brief highlights on the Music From The Motion Picture release betray.

               The X-Men franchise has never really been one for thematic continuity. Since the first film’s release in 2000, each and every entry into the series has seen a different composer tackling the material, amounting to a laundry-list of veteran names like Michael Kamen, John Ottman, John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and even newcomers like Henry Jackman, but never a definitive X-Men sound. The various scores on their own have never been particularly weak, Michael Kamen’s work on X-Men and Harry Gregson-Williams’ on X-Men Origins: Wolverine being the only debatable exceptions, but each score has been a work started purely from scratch. Logically, this tactic has produced a number of themes for singular entries ranging from average to superb but never an overarching theme for the franchise.

            With this past month’s The Wolverine, which functions as both a standalone Wolverine story and a bridge between the ill-conceived X-Men: The Last Stand and the much-anticipated X-Men: Days of Future Past, the series has been taken in yet another musical direction by horror ace Marco Beltrami. It’s hard to have a beef with Beltrami for doing this, though, for James Mangold’s latest film removes the title character from his familiar surroundings and places him in an entirely unfamiliar environment: modern Japan.

            Working on eight films this year ranging from action (A Good Day to Die Hard) to horror (World War Z) to drama (the upcoming The Homesman), Marco Beltrami has been consistently proving himself to be one of the most prolific and adaptable composers working today. In comparison to Beltrami’s recent efforts, The Wolverine will likely come across as the smaller, slightly more aggressive and appropriately more ethnically-charged cousin of his score for World War Z.

            Before Beltrami, only Harry Gregson-Williams conceived of any really significant thematic material for the franchise’s increasingly focalized anti-hero Wolverine (or "the" Wolverine, whatever fits your fancy). For The Wolverine, Beltrami constructs two main identities for the character, both more challenging than Gregson Williams’. The first, heard most prominently in "A Walk in the Woods" and "Whole Step Haiku", is a two-note, rising motif on Asian woodwinds over an ambient wash. This particular motif, which will incite inevitable comparison to Hans Zimmer’s two-note identity for Batman in the Dark Knight trilogy, drums up little warmth for the character and is rather anonymous, but it adequately conveys Logan’s isolation in the film’s opening scenes as he roams, hermit-like in the rural Yukon. On the other hand, when tackled by a full orchestra in the track "The Wolverine", the theme becomes a dramatic, stakes-raising mechanism of World War Z proportions, imbued with an even more tragic tone than that of the theme’s simpler incarnations. Given the first theme’s simplicity and moroseness, however, the score’s sense of warmth will have to come from Beltrami’s second identity for the character, heard in the highlight cue "Where to?". A slightly more optimistic effort given the overall downbeat and challenging nature of the score, "Where to?" is a sufficiently stirring bit of overdue heroism for Wolverine. Dominated by strings and brass over expected chopping ostinatos and a light electronic beat, it’s nothing you haven’t heard before and you can bet it won’t be cropping up in future X-Men films, but it’s certainly worth listening to as it is The Wolverine’s most accessible piece of music. If not for "Whole Step Haiku", it would have also been a nice way to end the album. What’s more, the theme recurs softly in "Two Handed" to infuse warmth into a brief moment of bonding between Logan and the young officer Yashida, as well as in "The Offer" and to inform the short, tender track "Goodbye Mariko".

            In addition to the material for the titular character, Beltrami provides a minor, suitably menacing motif for the constantly on-trail gang of Yakuza thugs. Heard at 2:29 and 3:09 in "Logan’s Run" as well as at 0:36 and 2:09 in "Bullet Train" and 1:06 in "Abduction", the motif intimidates in the lower registers of the string section (often accompanied by taiko drums) but never really builds to more than a brief reprise to denote the gang’s presence.

            Apart from these more recognizable motifs, Beltrami’s score is mostly propelled by aggressive action material that often crosses the line into a concoction you’re more likely to hear in one of his horror outings. As a result, large-scale dissonance and thrashing unpleasantness abound here. Percussive rhythms on taiko drums add a bit of ethnic propulsion to "Logan’s Run", a fast paced chase cue that, given its reliance on percussion, is more rhythmically exhilarating than thematically interesting. This rhythmic percussiveness returns in "Funeral Fight" in addition to some orchestral dissonance for the slow-motion sequences in which Logan experiences a gunshot without the aid of his regenerative capabilities. Punctuated by quiet ambient tones, some ferocious orchestral work drives the thrilling "Bullet Train" as well as the similarly ferocious "Silver Samurai", two of the more listenable action cues. The "Bullet Train" rhythm can also be found towards the end of "Kantana Surgery" (I’m no samurai master, but isn't it spelled "katana"?), albeit clouded in a good deal of abrasive, orchestral dissonance. Unlike the similarly titled track in World War Z, "Ninja Quiet" is relatively subdued, especially compared to the other action cues, relegating its brutal aggressiveness to the lowest registers of the orchestra with some electronic pulses to denote tense sneaking around.

            One of the more confounding aspects of Marco Beltrami’s The Wolverine is the addition of a harmonica to the ensemble. Sliding up and down the scale like the electric guitar in World War Z’s "Wales", the harmonica first crops up briefly in "Euthanasia", then in the latter half of "Trusting" and the beginning of "The Hidden Fortress" over hostile, orchestral blasts. I’m not saying that it’s not an effective addition to the ensemble, but we've come to associate the harmonica with concepts that are just about as far away from modern Japan and Wolverine as one can get (the latter half of "Abduction" comes across as The Wolverine meets Once Upon a Time in the West), so it’s a little perplexing as to why Belrami chose to use it here.

            In addition to the action cues and themes discussed, there are a few lesser identities that are also worthy of note. The angst-ridden, dramatic burst at 0:28 in "Abduction" is a great bit of strained boldness, as is the closing of the fantastic "Sword of Vengeance", which will remind slightly of Beltrami’s thematic material for humanity in World War Z and bits of Dario Marianelli’s V for Vendetta.

            It should be clear from the get-go that Marco Beltrami’s The Wolverine is neither a straight action score nor an exercise in traditional "superhero" fare. In fact, The Wolverine makes much better use of Beltrami’s horror mastery than his action capabilities, resulting in a challenging creation with little respite for warmth, but a few highlights of large-scale ferocity nonetheless. The strings shriek and the brass blasts and though it ultimately alternates between harshness and somberness, it’s an appropriate balance for the film’s somewhat dark tone. Furthermore, the addition of taiko drums, a few Asian woodwinds, and brief koto appearances add to the Japanese flavor of the score and hammer home the underlying theme of the "modern Rōnin story".  Though the whole product will not garner too many repeated listens and may prove too taxing for some (just count the number of times I've used a variation of  the word "dissonance"), Beltrami’s The Wolverine still boasts some great thematic cues like “Where to?” and “Abduction” as well as vicious action cues like “Logan’s Run”, “Bullet Train” and “Sword of Vengeance”. Another solid effort from Marco Beltrami that effectively puts a different spin on your typical comic book score.